Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 200,428 shares of the company’s stock after selling 90,117 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $10,256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the third quarter valued at $844,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in Hancock Whitney by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 33,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,694,000 after purchasing an additional 13,243 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,605,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 35.4% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 102,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,884,000 after purchasing an additional 26,705 shares during the period. Finally, Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the third quarter valued at approximately $508,000. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hancock Whitney news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total transaction of $39,981.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,232,343.20. This trade represents a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total value of $1,069,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,099,305.44. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,994 shares of company stock valued at $1,593,710 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HWC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson upped their target price on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens upgraded Hancock Whitney from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.00.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock opened at $54.71 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $56.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 52 week low of $41.19 and a 52 week high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $525.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.54 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 11.47%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 35.87%.

About Hancock Whitney

Hancock Whitney Corporation operates as the financial holding company for Hancock Whitney Bank that provides traditional and online banking services to commercial, small business, and retail customers. It offers various transaction and savings deposit products consisting of brokered deposits, time deposits, and money market accounts; treasury management services, secured and unsecured loan products including revolving credit facilities, and letters of credit and similar financial guarantees; and trust and investment management services to retirement plans, corporations, and individuals, and investment advisory and brokerage products.